Gábor Hrisafis has been awarded the Béla Karádi Gold Memorial Chain Award, founded by the National Centre for Circus Arts, which is given to the outstanding Hungarian artist of the year every year.
The prestigious professional award was presented during a gala ceremony at the beginning of the Stars Like Pins on the Sky performance at the Budapest Grand Circus. “This is a great recognition for the award winner, a real celebration for the Hungarian circus art and the Hungarian artistic profession”, said Director General Péter Fekete at the gala performance.
Gábor Hrisafis studied to be a clown, his first performance was in 1985 at the Budapest Circus. Since 1990, he has performed on many circus and variety stages around the world, but his character and talent have become known not only in the circus world, but also in theatre, film and music. He has been voted variety performer of the year several times. As the winner is currently working in Denmark, the prestigious professional award was accepted on her behalf by Mrs György Zsilák from József Graeser, Head of Circus at the Budapest Circus. The Karádi Prize-winning artist of the year was celebrated online, live, in a packed house, by the audience and the Hungarian artistes’ profession!
In accordance with the will of Béla Karádi, the former artistic director of the Hungarian Circus and Variety Company, the National Centre for Circus Arts, in recognition and respect of his work, established the Béla Karádi Golden Chain Award on 10 August 2021, the birthday of the eponym of the award, which is presented to the outstanding Hungarian artist of the year every year at a gala performance.
This year, the National Centre for Circus Arts asked the three fantastic artists who have won the Karádi Prize since its inception to select the nominees. Lajos Nereus, Laido Dittmar and Ferenc Nagy. The three jury members had to take into account the following criteria when making their nominations: artistic achievements in the given year and an unquestionable, exemplary community and private life. Another new feature this year was that not only individual artists could be nominated, but also couples who have achieved success together by working closely together and holding on to each other.
Alongside Gábor Hrisafis, the nominees for the 2024 Karádi Prize included Gergely Bagdi, Body Trapeze (Bettina Bogdán and Krisztina Vellai), Duo Donnert (Ryan Donnert and Anna Szécsényi) and artist Gabriel Grandiperre. The special professional value of the Karádi Prize is also marked by the fact that the Hungarian artists’ association selects the winner from the five nominated artists, so the candidate with the most votes from the artists will be the Karádi Prize winner of the year.
Our heartfelt congratulations to all the nominees and to Gábor Hrisafis, this year’s Karádi Award winner!